STARRS has monitored the work of Defense Secretary Austin’s Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI) since 2023.
This committee was run by retired USAF General Lester Lyles who also headed the 2011 Military Leadership Diversity Commission which helped start and push the DEI disaster in the military. This report included this whopper:
“In particular, although good diversity management rests on a foundation of fair treatment, it is not about treating everyone the same. This can be a difficult concept to grasp, especially for leaders who grew up with the EO-inspired mandate to be both color and gender blind.”
In other words, don’t be colorblind, don’t use assimilation and the concept of equity is going to be unfair — all of which blasts the unity and cohesiveness out of the military.
We attended their December 2023 public meeting and gave them a 100-page document (pdf) of over 1000 quotes by military-related people which showed how the CRT/DEI/woke agenda DOD was pushing hurt recruitment, retention and readiness.
STARRS tried to work with the committee, but was shut down by them. We requested that two 3-stars be able to make short oral statements at their May 2024 meeting in Arlington, VA, but that was denied. We had a large contingent prepared to attend anyway, but at the last minute they got nervous and switched it to a virtual meeting.
For that meeting, we had over 25 people to submit statements to the committee on why the divisive DEI agenda was bad for the military. DACODAI had to post all public comments on their website for all to see.
Obeying the Commander in Chief’s orders to shut down all DEI websites in the government by COB Wednesday, 15 January, DACODAI’s website was removed:
Our last screenshots earlier that day showed they planned to have their next public meeting at the beginning of February. We were going to be there if they did.
For posterity, we also screenshotted the page with all our statements. These statements can be found on the STARRS website among all the posts about Secretary Austin’s high-level advisory committee to push this Marxist-based ideology throughout the military: https://starrs.us/category/dod/dacodai/
We hope that in addition to their website being shut down, the committee is no longer in existence, despite the renewal of their charter a few months ago.
Background on MLDC and excellent statement to DACODAI:
Excerpt–
2011 MLDC Report Presaged Radical, Woke Change
Gen. Lester Lyles, USAF (Ret.), who chaired the 2011 Military Leadership Diversity Commission (MLDC) is now chairing the current Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. The MLDC Report and a collection of Issue Papers appear on the website of the DACODAI, which appears to be picking up where Gen. Lyles’ previous diversity advisory committee left off. Even the logo design of the two advisory committees is the same, except for the name.
the 2011 MLDC Final Report shifted priorities away from meritocracy, non-discrimination, and military necessity, adopting a mission statement that endorsed diversity, equity, and inclusion as paramount goals.
Attempts to create a military “reflective of the Nation we serve,” followed by a series of Obama and Biden Administration Executive Orders, have given rise to a powerful Diversity Industrial Complex in the Pentagon, directed by a small army of DoD and service branch DEI commissions, working groups, task forces, and advisory committees, including the DACODAI.
MLDC recommendations established a new paradigm that, in essence, turned priorities upside down – a concept that could be summarized as follows:
“Military readiness and mission accomplishment are important, but if there is a conflict between military readiness and percentage-based “diversity,’ diversity must come first.”
Inverted priorities quickly morphed into the DEI slogan that is constantly repeated in Defense Department documents and reports: “Diversity is a strategic (or operational) imperative.”
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The MLDC Repudiated Color-Blindness in Personnel Decisions
Members of the MLDC approved several controversial recommendations that their Final Report admitted would redefine “fair treatment” and be difficult to understand. For example:
“In particular, although good diversity management rests on a foundation of fair treatment, it is not about treating everyone the same. This can be a difficult concept to grasp, especially for leaders who grew up with the EO-inspired mandate to be both color and gender blind.” (emphasis added throughout)
When the Department of Defense abandoned a colorblind equal opportunity paradigm focusing on merit, competence, and qualifications, it traded that concept for one of unequal treatment based on color consciousness.
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